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This content was subject to assurance by SGS Italia S.p.A. (14 March 2014).

Reducing environmental impact

Reducing the environmental impact of the dealer network is one way the Group approaches sustainability issues across the entire value chain.

Working together with dealers toward this goal is also an opportunity to establish dialogue with customers, touching on all aspects of the Group’s commitment to sustainability.

The Group dealer network consists of company-owned and privately-owned sales points in more than 150 countries. The Group is committed to support the monitoring and progressive reduction of the environmental footprint attributable to the network, despite the fact that it only has operational control over company-owned dealerships and that the majority of the dealer network is privately-owned.

To reach this goal, in 2013 the Group continued to develop and expand methods and initiatives in different regions, based on local network characteristics.

Actions taken or proposed at dealerships were mainly related to increasing awareness on sustainability and reducing energy consumption, and subsequently, total emissions generated on-site or at the source.

New goals have been set for 2017 in order to support this commitment.

In the EMEA region, company-owned dealerships represent 2% of the total Group dealerships in terms of number and 5% in terms of surface area. In 2013, the Group focused on defining actions for all company-owned dealerships in Italy, which cover an area of 105,000 square meters (31% of the entire surface area of company-owned dealerships in all of EMEA).

Actions taken at Italian company-owned dealerships included: a detailed analysis of their status and energy consumption; the provision of suggestions, including potential benefits, on how to improve energy use in areas like maintenance and employee-specific behavior; and continual monitoring of dealership energy consumption trends. With the technical support of Fiat Partecipazioni, the Group company in charge of facility and energy management, dealership suggestions were customized depending on their site characteristics.

With the introduction of these 2013 initiatives, the total amount of energy consumed decreased by 5.5% compared with the previous year and around 6,400 GJ were saved. In addition, more than 685 tons of CO2 were not emitted into the atmosphere. The program resulted not only in environmental improvements, but also in operational benefits in the form of reduced costs.

The approach was to implement actions that were either no cost or highly affordable. The site that improved the most saved 17% in electricity compared with 2012. However, up to 27% electricity (in kWh) was saved at sites that had refurbished systems and machinery.

This experience led to the creation of operational guidelines on eco-efficiency specifically tailored to dealerships. The purpose of the guidelines is to help dealerships conserve resources, illustrating best practices to reduce waste and use energy more efficiently. They also offer technical solutions and examples focused on saving energy. The goal is to reach as many dealerships as possible, and encourage each site to implement appropriate changes on a voluntary basis. Separate eco-efficiency guidelines addressing the sustainable construction of future company-owned dealerships are also available. These two documents pave the way for future actions to minimize the environmental impact within the scope of our dealerships.

To support lower energy consumption and less environmental impact in the dealer network, we set targets to be met by 2017 at all Italian company-owned dealerships for electricity consumption. Targets were also set for progressive extension of eco-friendly initiatives to both company-owned and independent dealerships in other countries.

In the LATAM region, the World Class Dealer (WCD) program was implemented in 2013. WCD aims to increase the focus on operational efficiency at dealerships, including identifying opportunities, improving performance and achieving results.

As part of the program, an initiative to monitor and increase the environmental and social sustainability of the Brazilian dealerships was launched in partnership with the Ethos Institute and will eventually cover the entire dealer network, comprised of around 600 private dealers. The development of this initiative started with direct involvement of the Fiat Brazil Dealer’s Association (ABRACAF) in four engagement meetings. Dedicated workshops were held with 11 dealers where an online sustainability tool was defined on the basis of 26 indicators that help analyze a dealer's performance in areas such as:

human rights

relationships with workers and local communities

sustainable consumption of materials and resources (like energy and water)

reverse logistics for material disposal.

Each dealership is able to monitor its environmental and social impact by using the online tool to enter data on the 26 indicators. The system then provides suggestions and priorities to enhance performance.

In the NAFTA region, in an effort to promote environmental responsibility, the Chrysler Group Dealer Network organization and the Corporate Sustainability Office organized the Dealer Environmentally Conscious Operations (ECO) program for the third consecutive year. The program recognizes Chrysler Group dealers who contribute to the company’s goal of reducing its impact on our planet.

Top performing dealers are then nominated for the Chrysler Group Environmental Leadership Award (ELA) based upon energy consumption and efficiency, waste recycling, community relations, etc. Best practices highlighted in the 2013 program will be communicated to all Chrysler Group dealers in 2014 via the sustainability portal in DealerCONNECT. The DealerCONNECT portal was also enhanced to include an area for updates regarding Green Buildings where sustainability practices will be easily accessible to the dealer network. For example, data collected from dealers who have implemented LED lighting, waste oil burners, sustainable roofs, etc. will be made available to the dealer network to promote the benefits of sustainability practices in terms of the impact on the environment as well as the financial impact.

Direct and indirect energy consumption in dealerships

Mass-Market and Premium Brands in EMEA (TJ)

private(1)

company-owned

2013

EMEA

of which in Italy

EMEA(2)

of which in Italy(3)

Direct energy consumption

1,196

186

120

26

Indirect energy consumption

1,075

168

153

82

Total energy consumption

2,271

354

273

108

Direct and indirect CO2 emissions in dealerships

Mass-Market and Premium Brands in EMEA (thousands of tons of CO2)

private(1)

company-owned

EMEA

of which in Italy

EMEA(2)

of which in Italy(3)

Direct emissions

70

11

7

2

Indirect emissions

106

17

14

9

Total emissions

176

28

21

11

(1) Data estimated according to GHG Protocol on figures collected on some company-owned dealerships.(2) Data includes both figures collected and estimations based on the GHG Protocol.(3) Data entirely based on figures collected.